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When you pray, go away by yourself, all alone, and shut the door behind you and pray to your Father secretly, and your Father, who knows your secrets, will reward you. -Matthew 6:5-6 TLB
Much of life is done secretly. Our unvoiced thoughts. Things done when no one is around. Cries of our hearts offered to the One who knows our secrets. In truth prayer is so much more than the words we utter out loud. In a very real sense it is an inner (and secret) expression of our love and worship of the One who speaks to us in the secret places.

So today I offer a challenge to anyone reading here. Find moments to pray in secret. Be aware of secret places. Pray in your car. Offer praises in the shower. Cherish your moments of solitude. Be still and know that the Holy Spirit is with you when you feel alone. Cry out to God in your still moments. In dark times invite his light. And offer thanks to God.

Grant us grace Lord that we might make time to go away. To be all alone. To shut the door to all and open a door to you.

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. -Mathew 5:3 NRSV
In the passage described as the beatitudes Jesus lists eight things that invoke a blessing. He mentions meekness, mourning, mercifulness, purity of heart and peacemaking. He mentions blessings of kingdom inheritance, comfort, mercy, adoption and divine vision. Nowhere to be found in this list of blessings is wealth or any other earthly thing.

This list of blessings is so counterintuitive. It goes against the grain of what many consider to be blessings. Perhaps it is because the word 'poor' (πτωχός) used in this verse means 'reduced to being a beggar'. In this upside down divine kingdom, spiritual beggars are blessed. Spiritual pride is vanquished and spiritual beggary is rewarded.

I am proud. I repent. Forgive me Lord. Create a beggar heart in me that I might see the kingdom of God.

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. -John 14:6
Truth is a word that is sometimes discussed in religious circles. These days it seems that many use the word in a variety of contexts. Some use it in connection to the scriptures. That connection reminds me of this question that I once read:

“Is a thing true because the Bible says it is, or does the Bible say a thing because it is true?”

The question seems to present truth in a way that seems to miss the point of this verse in John. Jesus is truth. Any image of God in the bible that agrees with Jesus agrees with truth. Anything that does not is not truth. It is that simple.

For example. Many read of evil acts done at the direction of God and see this image as a true picture of God. Others read of that same evil, compare it with the image of God that we see in Jesus, and recognize that it is not true.

Open our eyes Lord, that we might accurately discern things that are true from those that are false.

The Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. -Corinthians 3:17 (NCV)
Not sure that many think of it this way, but I think freedom is a really spiritual word. For sure image of America's fight for liberty from an oppressive British monarchy comes to mind when folks ponder the word. But, in a sense, freedom from one oppressor often delivers us to a different oppressor. We are never really free unless we are spiritually free.

Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law.
Instead, you live under the freedom of God’s grace.

When we follow the Spirit we are truly free. Sin is no longer our master. Love has set us free to love freely. No longer are we mastered by hate. No longer by bitterness. No longer bound by carnality. Christ has set us free. We are free indeed.

Help us Lord to stay free in You and not return to the bondage of sin.

Without question, this is the great mystery of our faith: Christ was revealed in a human body and vindicated by the Spirit. He was seen by angels and announced to the nations. He was believed in throughout the world and taken to heaven in glory. -1 Timothy 3:16 NLT
Religious people sometimes use the word mystery when they are confronted with a part of their theology that they do not understand. Yet the word used in the New Testament does not really communicate that. Consider this:

The word mysterion (μυστήριον) is used 27 times in the New Testament. It denotes not so much the meaning of the modern English term mystery, but rather something that is mystical. In the biblical Greek, the term refers to "that which awaits disclosure or interpretation".

I like that. In a very real sense God was a great mystery until He was mystically revealed in the person of Jesus Christ. No longer did humanity need to wonder about the nature and character of the Divine. In three short years Jesus gave us an image of God that trumped every other image. He was revealed in a human body that we might know who God is.

Open our inner eyes Lord, that we might see the mystical and unfolding revelation of Christ in our lives.

about kc bob

I am married, have two children and two grandchildren. I have worked as a soldier, technician, software designer and a pastor. I am now retired. I write here to share devotional thoughts from life and the scriptures. Check out the menu above for more.